Roque calls on other media workers to stand with SMNI

Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque speaks during a forum at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay in Ermita, Manila on Wednesday, November 22, 2023. INQUIRER.net / RYAN LEAGOGO

MANILA, Philippines — Lawyer Harry Roque, former presidential spokesperson, has asked media practitioners to stand in solidarity with Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI), saying that supposed threats of franchise revocation is an attack on press freedom.

In a video clip taken by the Kamuning Pandesal Forum on Thursday, Roque can be seen pleading to media workers to protect press freedom.

Roque is referring to the House committee on legislative franchises’ inquiry on issues hounding SMNI after hosts in a program claimed that Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez had spent P1.8 billion for his travels.

“Nananawagan po ako muli, sa mga kasamahan sa media, meron na naman pong banta sa karapatan ng malayang pamamahayag sa pamamagitan ng pananakot na baka ma-revoke ang prangkisa ng SMNI,” Roque said.

(I am calling on our friends from the media, there is another threat against the right to a free press by way of threatening the revocation of SMNI’s franchise.)

READ: Revillame tells Roque: ABS-CBN is in my heart despite being in rival network 

“Ito ang kalayaan po ng mga mamamahayag ay isang napaka-importanteng kalayaan para po magkaroon ng demokrasya, dahil kinakailangan pangalagaan po natin ang malayang merkado ng ideya na nakakatulong sa pagbubuo ng paninindigan ng ating mga kababayan,” he added.

(This freedom of the press is an important freedom because it ensures democracy; because of this, we need to protect the free market of ideas that help shape the country’s ideologies.)

The hearings of the House panel were prompted by Quezon 2nd District Rep. David Suarez’s privilege speech on Tuesday, asking the committee on legislative franchises to exercise its oversight function after Secretary-General Reginald Velasco had already denied the existence of a P1.8 billion travel expense supposedly attributable to Romualdez.

On Wednesday, Suarez said that he has the documents containing the Speaker’s traveling expenses, which is different from what the SMNI hosts claimed.

READ: House SecGen: Reports of Romualdez’s P1.8 billion travel fund are false 

A few minutes after Suarez’s speech, lawmakers in the majority moved to direct the committee to start the probe on Thursday immediately.  Deputy Speaker Yasser Alonto Balindong approved the motion, as none of the lawmakers present objected.

READ: House to probe SMNI on claim Romualdez spent P1.8B on trips in 1 year 

Roque hopes that whatever a person’s political color is, support would be given to SMNI in protecting free speech.

READ: Chilling effect on media? Roque says ABS-CBN’s business is not news, but entertainment 

“Sana po kalimutan natin ang kulay dahil kahit tayo ay pula, berde, o itim, pag kalayaan po ang pinag-uusapan, dapat sama-sama po ang lahat ng mamamahayag,” he claimed.

(I hope we forget our politics for a while because even if we are red, green, or black when discussing our freedoms, all media workers should stand together.)

The same committee — although that of the 18th Congress — stripped media giant ABS-CBN of a new franchise in July 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Roque, a cabinet official during the time of former President Rodrigo Duterte, said there would be no chilling effect on the denial of ABS-CBN’s new franchise since its business is entertainment, not news.

On one occasion, Roque joked and teased television host Willie Revillame that he might have something to do with ABS-CBN’s shutdown for him to dominate the variety show battle totally.

But Revillame — who started his career with ABS-CBN before blossoming into one of their top noontime show hosts during the late 90s and early 2000s — refrained from talking about the plight of the network out of consideration.